Cauvery verdict: Gowda says Karnataka should have got 40 tmcft

Bengaluru: Ten days after the Supreme Court verdict on the vexed Cauvery dispute, Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda on Monday said mere allocation of excess water was not good news for Karnataka as it could neither be diverted beyond the basin nor utilised for crops. 

He told the media here that though Bengaluru was not identified as part of the Cauvery basin, the state government has commenced announcement of packages to parched areas. 

“Even we love to give water to places such as Sira and Pavagada. However, the government should have consulted experts before making such announcements,” Mr Gowda added. Stating that the state should have got 40 tmcft of water and not 14 tmcft, he wondered what action the sgovernment would take in this regard. 

“Recently, at a function to pay tribute to late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, in which PM Modi participated, politicians from Tamil Nadu urged the Prime Minister to question the Supreme Court order. The court has given six weeks to file objections. However, Tamil Nadu wants  Cauvery Water Management Board. One should realise that the Board is not being constituted as per Inter-State River Water Dispute. It is being set up to monitor water distribution between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. This could be detrimental to farmers in Cauvery basin.” Mr Gowda added.

Taking a dig at both national parties, Mr Gowda said that they were not interested in increasing the irrigation area in the Cauvery basin. “In 2007, the then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy challenged the Tribunal’s order in the Supreme Court. However, Congress leaders did not support his move. Now I sought the help of Mr Ananth Kumar to take up a fight in the Assembly. He assured to come back the next day, after consulting party members. The next day did not come. Both national parties are taking the state for a ride in river water dispute issues,” the former prime minister added.